


Awaited Meetings

by Varewulf



Series: Magical Girl Aya Adventures [5]
Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Action, F/F, Fluff, magical girl, other-Ran
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 01:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19713325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varewulf/pseuds/Varewulf
Summary: The Litauri are back, and in spite of Aya's hopes it is not to talk. But this time she's not facing them alone.





	1. Display of Strength

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote the original draft for this over a month ago, but I wasn't sure whether I really wanted to make it canon. I just wanted to write a space battle, but wasn't sure if I wanted that to be the canon response from the aliens. So because of that I perhaps went a little further with other-Ran's bit than I would have otherwise. If it wasn't going to be canon, I could do what I wanted. And it was fun to make a show of how over-powered Aya is. I'm just not sure if it fits the tone of what I've tried to do so far.
> 
> But it's not like I've posted a whole lot else lately, so I'll let you have it anyway. I hope it doesn't feel too much like it doesn't fit.

"Launch torpedoes!"

A quartet of anti-ship torpedoes flew from their tubes. While the default setting for them were a wide spread to increase odds of impacting other capital ships, their configuration could be altered for smaller targets. They sailed through the vacuum of space towards a single point before simultaneously detonating.

"A direct hit?"

"Negative, vice-admiral. All warheads detonated before reaching the target."

Their target hadn't even bothered trying to evade. As it came back into view they briefly saw flickering energy that indicated a shield. How could something that small have protection against that level of firepower?

"Prime the missile batteries. Are the beam arrays ready yet?"

"In another thirty seconds, vice-admiral."

"Understood. Launch missiles!"

A flurry of projectiles raced towards the target. They were met by a barrage of pink beams, shooting them all down.

"It appears the target has point-defence lasers, vice-admiral."

Vice-admiral Del'Na was perplexed.

" _If you would just calm down, I'm sure we can reach a peaceful solution._ "

There was that voice again. The same one from the scout vessel's logs.

After the encounter with the mysterious entity identifying themselves as Just'Aya, captain Tar'Ub had returned to the fleet with no human, and no reconnaissance reports. Del'Na had quickly decided lead the investigation, for obvious reasons. The captain had advocated sending diplomatic envoys to negotiate with this 'guardian' on the grounds of the danger they posed, but the vice-admiral had dismissed such concerns. They already had a plan in mind.

The deliberations on what action to take after such an unprecedented event had run long, but eventually Del'Na had managed to convince the admiral to let them take a contingent of the fleet to deal with the 'guardian' in retaliation for the attack on Tar'Ub's vessel. And levy a threat against Earth for sending Just'Aya after them in the first place. Del'Na had left out the part about ordering the human being taken into custody, and as such initiating the conflict. As far as the admiral knew, Just'Aya's attack had been unprovoked. That might not last, since if the admiral decided to look at the ship logs themselves, or question Tar'Ub directly, they would discover the truth. Editing the logs was far, far too risky. If that was discovered, Del'Na's career would be over. But taking advantage of an opportunity, and showing some ambition could be excused if they produced results. So if the vice-admiral had already secured the victory, and brought Earth under control before anyone could stop them, they would come out on top.

They had not expected to be met by Just'Aya in open space, halfway between Earth and the red planet that was one further out in their solar system. The contingent had been running silent in preparation for an ambush, but had ended up getting ambushed themselves. As such their weapon systems had not been ready for engagement. Just'Aya had said they were there to talk, but since they had arrived without a ship, and were seemingly defenceless, the vice-admiral had decided to open fire as soon as the first weapons were powered up. While capturing the human would have been invaluable, it also seemed impossible. Better to eliminate a threat of that magnitude. Perhaps the remains could be collected afterwards. And they needed to bring Earth under control if the population could produce 'guardians' like that.

The contingent consisted of two battle-cruisers, a destroyer, three assault frigates, two artillery frigates, three wings of corvettes (one on each capital ship), and several fighter squadrons. Del'Na led from on board the Tempest, while the other battle-cruiser was the Herald. Both with distinguished records. The comparatively smaller destroyer Force of Will was not to be taken lightly either. No matter how powerful this 'guardian' was, they were only one. It should have been easy to take them out.

"What of the drone fighters?" As they were purely AI-controlled, they had been launched immediately, while pilots and crew were scrambling to start up the heavy fighters, and the corvettes.

"They are being taken out, vice-admiral. We believe the target may not be alone."

Del'Na brought up the status screen, and sure enough the drone fighters were blinking out one by one, with no indication that Just'Aya was making any action towards them. They were stoically facing the larger vessels. Whatever was picking off the drones was proving impossible to spot.

" _Please listen. I'm sure we can work this out._ "

Just'Aya's plea went ignored.

"Are the beam arrays ready?"

"Yes, vice-admiral."

That meant the artillery frigates, and the other two capital ships were ready too.

"Fire beams, and order everyone else to do the same."

While not exactly moving at light speed, the delay between firing the energy beams, and them hitting the target was imperceptible. Such a focused assault was nigh-impossible for even the strongest shield-generators to endure. Space lit up with the colour of blue as multiple energy beams converged on a single point. And went right through it.

Looked like Just'Aya had been instantly vaporised. "Got them."

"Negative, vice-admiral. Target has moved."

"What?" Nothing should have been able to dodge that. What was going on? But so far, aside from taking out the drone fighters, the enemy had not counter-attacked. Perhaps their offensive capability was limited. Not a lot of room for large weaponry on something that small. "Re-align the targeting. Close in to cannon range. Order the assault frigates to proceed to Earth." Even those three alone should be enough to overpower the planet if their protector was all the way out here.

"Yes, vice-admiral."

The frigates started accelerating at a much higher rate than the capital ships were capable of, but they didn't get far before slowing down again.

"Vice-admiral, the assault frigates are reporting engine trouble. They are unable to proceed any further."

"What?"

Even if the engines cut out, the sheer momentum should have carried them forwards, but they had completely stopped. As if something had trapped them.

"The enemy must have some sort of stasis field."

" _You are being very rude. If you refuse to talk, then turn around, or I will be forced to strike back._ "

"A bluff," Del'Na scoffed. If the enemy really could fight back, then surely they would have done so already. What was the point in delaying? "All cannons, fire at will. Launch heavy fighters." The cannon batteries let loose, beam arrays were warming up again, and the fighter squadrons shot out of their launch bays. A lot of ordinance was bearing down on the human, and the corvettes would soon follow. Time to end it.

" _I had hoped to avoid this._ "

"Vice-admiral! We are detecting a massive energy build-up!"

They didn't even need the close-up view. They could see the intensifying glow outside through the main screen. As if a star was being born. A pink beam shot out, and impacted the hull of the other battle-cruiser right by its bridge. All communications from the Herald immediately cut off.

"Wha... why weren't their shields up?!" Del'Na shouted.

"They... they were..." The communications officer sounded awestruck. Or perhaps terrified. Or both.

A wave of pink energy spread from the impact point, and travelled across the entire hull with arcs of what looked like pink electricity crackling in its wake. From front to back the ship was going dark. The readings showed that the reactor was rapidly being drained. It seemed like everyone was holding their breath until the whole vessel had been powered down. There was a collective exhale as that seemed to be the end of it. It might be floating dead, but they could recover the ship, and everyone on it. But then they started seeing movement. Del'Na quickly zoomed in their view, and saw that the entire battle-cruiser was slowly breaking into pieces. It was breath-taking in how non-violent it looked. There was no big explosion, the bits of the ship just drifted apart as if the whole vessel had become brittle and cracked, and could no longer hold together. The force of the escaping atmosphere pushing them away from each other.

"The... the ship... the crew..." Del'Na was stunned. There were no signs of escape pods, nor of any of the fighters or corvettes flying away. They hadn't even heard a distress call.

"All... all 213 crew members' life signs are accounted for, vice-admiral," the logistics officer said.

"Huh?"

"They're... in there. All signs are stable."

" _That looked expensive, but you gave me no choice. I told you to listen. Here, have your people._ "

There was a sudden mass of movement from within the wreckage, further breaking it up. A closer look revealed a whole lot of bubbles, all of which seemed to have one person inside. The crew. None of them appeared to be moving, but readings said they were alive.

" _Where do you want me to put them? This is where your small ships came from, is that a good place?_ " A pause. " _Hey! Answer me when I'm talking to you! You're so rude._ "

"Uh..." No one on the bridge was sure how to react. How were they even supposed to answer? There was no incoming signal to respond to. Del'Na couldn't remember what Tar'Ub had done.

" _Ugh, fine._ "

There was a minute of silence, then Just'Aya suddenly came in right through the main view-screen onto the bridge. Several people fell out of their chairs, or found something to hide behind as the guardian looked across the room. Their gaze finally locked on vice-admiral Del'Na.

"You're the one in charge, right?" they asked.

Del'Na shrunk back in their chair. "I... what... what _are_ you?"

"Magical girl Aya. Now listen. I put all your people in what looked like a large cargo room. There weren't really many other places they would fit. And I put your little ships back where they came from. Even the ones without people in them. At least those that weren't too broken. Maybe you can fix them. I don't really care, I don't have a lot of patience left. I'm no longer in the mood to talk, but next time send someone who is. Or just stay away. If you come looking for a fight again, I will break all of your expensive-looking toys, not just the biggest one. Got it? Now go home."

Just'Aya exited the way they came without waiting for a response. There was no hole, they had just passed right through the hull. The bridge crew were left in stunned silence.

"V-vice-admiral." The logistics officer eventually spoke up. "The... all fighters are back in the launch bays. The crew... the life signs of The Herald's crew are in supply storage 3. Y-your orders?"

"I..." Even in all the years they had served, Del'Na had rarely felt that close to danger. "Re... retreat. Return to the fleet." Either they needed a much larger force, or Tar'Ub had the right of it.

* * *

Aya watched the alien ships turn around, and return from whence they came. That had left her in a sour mood. Why couldn't they have just listened?

"Eesh, you're really scary, Maruyama-senpai."

"Eh?" Aya startled. "Scary?" She turned to see Ran floating right next to her.

"Yeah, I mean... I probably could have held them off on my own too, but I don't think I could have done... that." Ran looked towards the wreckage of the massive ship Aya had destroyed.

"W-well, I..." Aya had just gotten really annoyed, and wanted them to stop. She'd been fed up. It hadn't exactly been easy as such, but she had just willed the magic into doing what she wanted. As for her little speech, she had thought about what Chisato might say. She sighed. "They didn't give me much choice. Thanks for having my back, Ran-chan."

"You're welcome. Even if I'm not sure if you actually needed it." Ran had been the one who had taken out the little drone ships, and stopped the big ones that tried to fly past. "You know, if someone had told me this morning: 'Hey Ran, you're going to space to fight aliens today', I would have thought they had lost their mind. Well, if it had been anyone but you, I mean."

"I'm sorry," Aya said. "I just wasn't sure what they were capable of..."

Ran chuckled. "No worries. I owe you at least that much. And it was an interesting change from fighting invaders. But... um... can we please go back now? It's kinda... terrifying out here."

There was literally nothing they could see except the distant sun, and the stars. Nothing else was big enough to be visible from where they were.

Aya started feeling it too, since there was nothing to distract her from it any longer. "Yeah, sure, let's." She held out her hand to Ran. Like when she went to Ran's world, it was limited how much energy they could bring over. So while Ran had enough to fight, only Aya had enough to transport them that far out, and back again.

"Um..." Ran hesitated. "Can I like... hug onto you, or something? I don't want to accidentally lose my grip on the way back, and get stranded..."

"Eh?" Aya blushed. "Y-yeah, of course."

Ran moved closer, and clung on for dear life. Aya put an arm around her to hopefully reassure her a little. While she couldn't see it, she could feel where Earth was, and trusted the magic to take them back.


	2. Facing Yourself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magical Girl Ran is curious to experience a bit of Aya's world while she's there.

Aya treated Ran to some nice, warm dumplings. It was a somewhat chilly day.

"So is this a common occurrence for you, Maruyama-senpai?" Ran asked.

"No," Aya said. "That was only my third time in space." Even if she hadn't technically felt the coldness of space, the warmth of the dumpling felt like it reached her soul.

"Only?" Ran stared at her. "I'm not sure if even most astronauts have made three trips to space, let alone most humans."

"Eh? Ehehe... I guess you're right..." Sometimes Aya lost perspective on what was normal and not.

Ran chewed in silence for a minute before asking: "What were the other two times?"

"Well... there was my first encounter with those aliens." Which hadn't been that long ago. "And my... final battle."

"Final... battle?"

"That's what I thought for years, at least. I mentioned how nothing showed up here for four years, right?" Aya asked.

Ran nodded.

"Four years ago... well, like four and a half now I guess... I had to fight a massive invader. Truly giant. It emerged in space above the planet. The Guardians believe its intention was to destroy the sun, wipe out the whole solar system, but it could only cross over near to Earth. I defeated it, but was so exhausted I passed out afterwards. When I woke up again, the Guardians told me it was all over. That had been the last one. At least it was supposed to have been. So in the four years afterwards I thought my life as a magical girl was over."

"Whoa..."

"And then suddenly another one showed up. A weakling, but it was still a shock to learn it wasn't over. And I've sort of been back on duty since. Part of me always wished it wasn't really over, but you gotta be careful what you wish for, I guess." Aya sighed. "Ah, sorry! That got a bit heavy. I've just never had someone to really talk to about all this. Sorry, Ran-chan."

"It's okay. I get where you're coming from," Ran said. "The others know about me, but... I'm not sure how to really explain to them what it's like. What I'm up against. What I do."

"Yeah..." Aya had Chisato in the know, and the club, but she also had the same issue of it being hard to truly convey what it was like. And there would always be things she couldn't divulge. "Are the invaders the only thing you've been up against until now, Ran-chan?"

Ran finished the last of her dumplings. "Well, they are the vast majority of what I deal with, but there has been the occasional other threat. There was some sort of creature that arrived on a meteor once. So I suppose I have technically fought an alien before, even if it was a very different scenario. And I'll never forget that guy... he called himself a witch doctor. Used magic to make... I guess there's no better word for them than zombies. Entirely under his control. Once I destroyed his magic sceptre they all dropped."

Aya nodded. "Been pretty similar for me. Mostly invaders, and a few other things. I had an encounter with someone who styled herself as a dark lord once. First time I faced something I couldn't just smash. She was still human, you know?"

"Yeah."

"And I remember this plant creature that was like... what did the Guardians call it? A perversion of nature? Corruption of nature? Something like that. Took forever to clear out all the roots. Never found out what caused it." Nothing like it had happened since, but it had remained on Aya's mind ever since. It could have just been some sort of accidental occurrence, but if it wasn't...

Ran giggled. "I dreamed about fighting one of my father's flower arrangements once, but that doesn't really count."

Aya blew some hot air onto her hands. It was fun finally talking freely about things like that, but she'd like to get moving, preferably inside somewhere. "Are you heading back home, Ran-chan?" she asked.

"Um... well, I was thinking maybe..."

"You'd like to look around?"

Ran nodded shyly.

"Hee. I think that's only fair since I snuck around in your world a bit." Aya hopped onto her feet. "Anywhere in particular you'd like to go?"

"Not sure... Circle maybe? Or the shopping district... I don't know..."

Aya smiled. "Anyone in particular you'd like to see, perhaps?"

"Huh? N-no, I... that's probably not a good idea... right?"

"Maybe not, but some people are used to pretty weird things over on this side," Aya said. "I know some people who would probably be very excited to meet you, but maybe introducing you would actually be going a little too far..."

"Let's just... start with Circle. Do you have the cafe over here? A warm drink would be nice."

"Yeah, we do."

"Good. Okay. Let's go with that. Then we can decide what's next from there."

The two of them took off to find a good place to land close to the live house.

* * *

Ran cautiously approached the other Ran. It was probably a bad idea, but Aya had assured her it was probably fine. In the end she hadn't needed much convincing. She knew she would have wanted to meet another of herself if she was visiting. That was a really weird sentence to think about. In fact she wanted to meet all of Afterglow, but starting with herself- her other self seemed like it was the best approach. That they had happened upon Ran on her own felt like fate giving them the go-ahead.

"Uh... hey..." Not exactly a strong, confident start. But it got the other Ran to look in her direction.

Strangely enough the look on her face was not one of surprise, but exasperation. "Moca... I've told you not to turn into me. It's kinda creepy."

"Huh?" Ran was baffled. She had no idea what that meant, nor how to respond.

"Besides, you got some of the details wrong. And where did you find those clothes?"

"Did I hear you call my name, Ra~n? Who are you talking to~?" Moca suddenly walked into the room.

Both Rans stared at Moca, who stared back, then they stared at each other. And at Moca again. And each other again.

"Uh..."

"Um..."

"Who..."

"I... I can ex-"

"Whoa~! Two Rans~." Moca was the one to break the stalemate. "Is Moca-chan dreaming~? Hang on, I've had this dream before~. If one of you is made of bread, you have to tell me~."

"Not now, Moca!" both Rans said in concert.

"Sniffle. Such harsh words for your beloved Moca-chan~. I got it~. I can join in too~."

In front of Ran's eyes Moca changed. Suddenly there was a third Ran in the room, wearing Moca's clothes. "Wha..."

"See? Now I'm part of the club." She even sounded like Ran too.

When Moca-Ran walked closer, Ran panicked, pulled out her rod, and pointed it right at the third Ran. Who got encased in a bubble, and flew away to get pinned against the far wall.

"W-what?" The bubbled Moca-Ran looked genuinely shocked.

"Hey! What did you do to Moca?!"

Ran jumped at the other Ran's sudden anger.

"Let her go right now!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

* * *

After things calmed down, and Moca was released, they were finally able to sit down, and talk.

"So you're another me? From another world?"

"Yeah."

"And you're here because...?"

"I... don't think I can tell you that..." Ran figured that revealing that aliens were not only out there, but had tried to attack Earth, and she had gone out with Aya to fight them off was a bit much even by the standards of the current situation. "But I figured that since I was in the... um... neighbourhood, I would... I kinda wanted to... say hi."

"I guess I can understand that..." Other-Ran said. They were the same, after all. "But how did you even get here?"

"Well..."

"Moca-chan has an idea~. There was a cosmic accident~, and now our mysterious new Ran is stuck here forever~," Moca said in a very dramatic voice. It was kinda comforting that Moca seemed to still be Moca, even in a different world.

"No, it's... thanks to this." Ran showed them her rod. Based on what Aya had told her, it should be okay be reveal that much.

"What's that?"

"It's pretty~."

"It's..." Ran blushed. "A magical girl rod..." she mumbled.

"Pardon?" Other-Ran's expression went blank.

"Oooo~, the mysterious Ran is a magical girl~? Just like-" For once Moca cut herself off.

"Huh? Just like who?" Other-Ran asked.

"Moca-chan shouldn't give away other people's secrets~," was all Moca would say. Maybe that meant she knew about Aya.

Other-Ran sighed. "So many secrets around me. Moca, Tsugumi, and now this."

"Huh? What about Tsugumi?" Ran asked.

"Tsugu can turn into multiple Tsugus~," Moca said.

Other-Ran glared at her. "What happened to not giving away other people's secrets?" she said accusingly.

"It's just you, Ra~n. Tsugu doesn't mind you knowing~. Besides, you brought it up first~." Moca sounded confident in her logic.

Speaking of. "Um... Moca? How did you do... that?" Ran asked.

"Fu fu fu~. Moca-chan is a proud member of the Superpowers Association club~." Moca indeed seemed very proud. Or maybe just smug. "We solve crimes and mysteries~."

"No you don't," Other-Ran said without hesitation.

"Hey~, I'm trying to sound cool here, Ra~n."

"Pfffft." Ran stifled a laugh. "So there really are people with superpowers over here, huh?"

"Hm~? Other-world Moca-chan doesn't have a power~?" Moca asked.

Ran shook her head. "Nor does Tsugumi. Nor anyone else, as far as I know. It's... just me, I suppose."

"Hm~?"

"Hey, Moca? Could you give me some time alone with... er... me?" Other-Ran asked.

"Hmmm~... okay, Ra~n. Anything for you~." Moca got up, and kissed her Ran on the cheek.

Other-Ran blushed a little. "Thanks." She waited until Moca had left the room before facing her counterpart. "So... magical girl, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Transformation, magical powers, big monsters, all of that?"

"Yup."

"And... just you?"

"... yeah."

A pause. "Does it get lonely?"

"Well... Moca and the others know, but... sometimes, I guess. They don't really understand what it's like. Hard to explain properly."

"I see."

Since Aya had asked, Ran had been wondering about herself too. "Have you ever wanted to be one?"

"Hm? Hmmm... never considered it, I guess. Moca would probably be thrilled."

"Heh. Same for me. Moca was probably happier for me than I was about it."

"Then why did you become one?"

"I mean... I was 11. It sounded kinda cool. Being told 'only you can save the world' is a bit of an ego boost."

"I can imagine. Though... that rod... does that mean your outfit is ikebana inspired?"

Made sense her other self would catch that. "No. Well... not any longer. The magic lets me change what I wear. Shortly after we formed Afterglow I switched style. Can't do anything about the rod, though."

"Heh. I like it. As Moca said, it's pretty. And I'm happy to hear you also have Afterglow."

Ran blushed again. "Yeah. Is it with Moca, Tsugumi, Himari, and Tomoe over here too?"

"Yup. Our music is the best."

"Of course. I'd love to see you play."

"Same. I like your shirt, by the way."

"And I like yours. Never seen one quite like it in my world."

"Yeah, same. ... Hey, wanna trade?"

"Huh?"

"Would be cool to have a shirt that no one else could get."

"Good point. Sure."

Both Rans reached down to pull their shirts off.

"Ooo~, are the Rans going to undress~?" Moca poked her head in through the door.

"Moca!"

"I've never experienced two different flavours of Ra~n before~."

"Moca, get out!"

"Awww~."

"Pffffft, ahahahaha." Ran wasn't able to stifle her laughter that time. It was such a bizarre scenario that she couldn't help herself.

Other-Ran blinked at her, then ended up joining in.

After they finally got the shirt exchange done, she asked: "Hey, wanna meet the others while you're here?"

"Huh? Won't they be freaked out?"

"Probably. Wanna do it anyway?"

They shared a grin. "Yeah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having the two series cross over more directly might be going against my original mission statement, but I thought it was fun.


End file.
